Move over, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
The United States' path to future World Cups could be significantly different, with potential new competition including Brazil, Argentina and the rest of South America.
Per Venezuelan publication Meridiano, FIFA president Gianni Infantino told CONMEBOL vice president and Venezuela federation president Laureano Gonzalez that he hopes to combine CONCACAF and CONMEBOL in World Cup Qualifying for the 2026 cup.
That cup will have 48 teams after FIFA announced World Cup expansion on Tuesday.
Details as to how it would work are slim, but Gonzalez mentioned the possibility that if the two are combined, there could be 14 total slots. Right now, South America has five and North America has three, while each have one spot in a two-game playoff against another confederation for a spot at the cup.
This could potentially mean the U.S. will play some of the big boys of South America, which could make the road to qualifying a bit tougher. But that all depends on the format used, which would likely be several small groups like Europe currently uses.
But fans of the USMNT shouldn't get nervous just yet. The fact that additional slots will be added still means the U.S. should have a realistic chance of qualifying for World Cups.
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